The Socialist deputies took her at her word. 1er February, MP Aurore Bergé, president of the Renaissance parliamentary group, declared during a conference organized by the Abbé Pierre Foundation that“Airbnb is a scourge in a number of municipalities”especially in the most tense areas, and insisted that the tax advantage reserved for owners of furnished tourist accommodation ” does not work “. “It’s not normal that we have a tax niche which overrides the fact of putting our apartment in tourist rentalconcluded Mr.me Bank. So we remove the premium (…). I have no taboo in this area. »
A few days later, Thursday February 9, the elected representatives of the Socialist Party (PS) tabled a bill to this effect in the National Assembly – it is currently awaiting validation. Supported by the PS deputy for Pyrénées-Atlantiques Inaki Echaniz, the text actually includes a whole series of measures to fight “against rental speculation and promoting access to housing in territories in tension”.
The first provision of this bill, which The world has been able to consult, therefore aims to remove the tax niche from which short-term tourist accommodation benefits, most often rented on platforms such as Airbnb. As these rentals are considered a commercial activity, unlike the classic unfurnished rental, which brings in land income, the income generated can benefit from a reduction of up to 71% of the amounts received, provided they do not exceed the ceiling of 176,200 euros. The rural lodgings could, them, preserve their tax advantage.
“Mobility lease” fraud
As the world’s leading tourist destination, France has long sought to consolidate its offer of seasonal rentals, by granting tax advantages to their owners. But the massive wave of transformation of apartments into furnished tourist accommodation, fueled by the success of Airbnb, is now largely contributing to the difficulties of access to housing throughout part of the territory. At the end of 2021, France thus recorded more than 800,000 seasonal rentals (+ 18% compared to the previous year).
“They generate very significant income, often much higher than that from long-term rentals, but today remain very lightly taxed”deplores Sarah Coupechoux, researcher at the Abbé Pierre Foundation, who supports the bill.
The text also wants to toughen the rental conditions for furnished tourist accommodation. On the one hand, by making their registration compulsory throughout the country. On the other hand, by lowering the number of rental days authorized for main residences, which would drop from 120 to 60 nights per year. “We must put an end to this hypocrisy, no one is absent from their residence 120 days a year, we want to prevent cheating”justifies Inaki Echaniz.
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